


A Drop of Ink: Prologue Part One

by Adurna_Sandburg



Series: A Drop of Ink [1]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Body Horror, F/M, Joey has too many regrets, Lots of it, Minor Character Death, More tags once I figure out what to put, Redemption AU with a side of angst, Searchers...searchers everywhere, Summary needs work, Torture involved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-01
Updated: 2018-04-03
Packaged: 2019-02-09 00:10:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 17,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12876021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adurna_Sandburg/pseuds/Adurna_Sandburg
Summary: It had started out so innocently. Just a tiny experiment on his best friend. Little did he know where it would lead him and Henry.





	1. Introduction

It had started all those years ago back in the studio. It had started with a cup of coffee and a drop of ink.

Joey wasn't quite sure what to expect or what would happen. He wasn't even sure he would get away with it. One day though he decided to try it anyways. All it took was a little drop of his special ink in the coffee and it was finished.

Henry drank it without a single problem. No questions were asked with no one the wiser. He could say he was testing fate when he decided to add two, or three, or even four drops to the coffee. The drops of ink just seemed to multiply out of thin air. And Henry didn't suspect a thing. Sure, he had complained a few times about the taste, but Joey told him it was all in his head. Henry, being the good friend he was, believed him.

Soon though he was drinking full mugs of ink in the morning. Joey had made sure that he had gotten used to the taste of ink over time so he wouldn't suspect anything. Though Joey did feel a bit guilty about using his best friend this way, it would be worth it in the end. At least, what he told himself every day.

That didn't stop the little sliver of guilt and doubt though that found its way into his heart. In fact, the guilt and doubt would never leave, not for many years at least. As for Henry, he was unaware of what was going to happen to him.

Joey silently watched and waited to see what would happen to Henry. He would not be disappointed though it would be many years before he saw the results of his work. Many years that would be filled with hate, love, sorrow, and guilt over what he had done to his best friend. Henry would soon face the very real prospect of becoming something other than human. He would find himself one day as none other than a living cartoon.


	2. Where it All Began

Joey tapped a pen on his desk for a moment. He had been giving Henry “his usual” for several years now and still nothing had happened. At this thought, the usual guilt welled up inside of him, but he squashed it back down. This was no time for second guessing. Maybe though the ink didn't have any effects on humans. This was the first time he was really testing the idea. Maybe nothing would happen to Henry.

The funny thing about it was that the ink now seemed to act like coffee for Henry. It always helped him wake up. Sometimes he’d drink as many as five cups in one day just to make it through some of his projects. Sighing, Joey realized he was dawdling and needed to get back to work. He was currently helping animate some new scenes for the next episode that was called “Airplane Antics.” Should be interesting. A few minutes later, a light knock on his door brought him out of his work. He told whoever it was to come in. To his surprise, Henry walked through the door.

 

Henry nervously walked down the hall. He just wasn't sure how Joey would react to this. He finally reached his destination and stopped in front of Joey's office. He himself had only just found out the other day and only had about a month left before he got shipped off to boot camp. Sighing, he raised his hand to knock, but hesitated before knocking softly. A “come in” from Joey caused him to slip into the office. Joey looked surprised to see him as he entered.

  
“What can I do for you Henry?” asked Joey to his old friend.

  
“Well Joey, it's just that…” Henry trailed off while rubbing his arm.

  
“Well, what is it?” questioned Joey.

  
“I’ve got some bad news Joey. I’ve been drafted. I’m going to boot camp by the end of the month.” Henry ground out.

  
Joey's eyes widened at the news before his expression changed to one of anger.

  
Henry raised his hands in placating gesture to try and calm Joey down. It didn't help.

  
“Get out Henry. Get out of my face. How dare you come in here and tell me that you’ve been drafted. You're abandoning us that's what you’re doing!” Joey said with his voice rising with each sentence.

  
Henry took a step back.

  
“Joey, I…” he started.

  
“Get out and don't come back either! You can leave for all I care you traitor!” shouted Joey as he stood up and pointed at the door.

  
Henry just looked dumbfounded for a moment before his expression hardened. He walked out of the office and down the hall. He kept his face down and looking at the ground as he walked with his hands balled into fists. He managed to avoid running into anyone and finally reached his office.

Henry quickly shut the door behind him. He slammed his hands down on his desk before sinking down into his chair. He held his head in his hands. It wasn't like he had asked to be drafted.

He didn't have any health problems that prevented him from going and God forbid he become a conscientious objector. His father would kill him if he even thought about becoming one. He had a month to put everything in order and say goodbye to everyone. Sara had cried as soon as she had heard the news and had begged him not to go. He had done his best to reason with his emotional wife. He had finally managed to calm her down, but she was definitely not happy about the idea. Henry sighed and starting to clean out his desk. Once he finished that he would go say farewell to everyone. Joey obviously didn't want him around anymore.

 

It wasn't until a few days later that Joey really considered his actions. He always had had a rather nasty temper about him, but he had gotten better at keeping it in control as of late or at least he thought he had. Putting down his pen, he thought about what he had said to Henry. He had told Joey that he was leaving them. Sure he didn't have a choice in the matter, but he was still abandoning them.

Joey frowned at the thought. He had always hated people who abandoned others ever since his own deadbeat father had left him and his mother when he was younger before his mother had married his wonderful stepfather a few years later. Maybe he had been a little too harsh on Henry. It wasn't like he had wanted to leave. Joey shoved the thought aside. He had work to do and could worry about it later. Though, he did still wonder if the ink would ever have an effect on Henry or not. Probably not, he had been drinking it for years and nothing had ever happened.

Satisfied, Joey picked the pen back up and continued to work on the studio’s finances. A few weeks later he would try and go to talk to Henry, but his friend was already on his way to boot camp by that point. In the coming years, he would always regret not coming to see Henry sooner.


	3. Creation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the kudos so far! They really mean a lot!

Boot camp was hard, plain and simple. Henry groaned as he stretched out his sore muscles. They had a day full of running, push ups, and other tortuous activities. He was actually relatively in shape himself, but they took it to a whole new level here.

Reaching down, he got ready to pull off his boots. The only problem was that they wouldn't budge. Raising an eyebrow at the situation, he tried to pull his right boot off again with both hands. It still wouldn't come off. He tried the left boot and was met with the same results.

A feeling of panic started gathering in the pit of Henry's stomach. He tried to get the shoes off several more times, but to no avail.

Taking a deep breath, he brought his right foot into his lap so he could inspect it more closely. Everything appeared to be normal until he got to the very tip of his boot. Peeking through the dirt at the end of the boot seemed to be a shiny, black material. He spit on his boot and rubbed away the dirt.

The top of his shoe was black, shiny, and rubbery looking. He poked it with one of his fingers and thought it felt kind of slick. Something else though felt off. Bringing his hands up to eye level, he noticed another odd thing. The tips of his fingers were a stark white, thicker than normal, and had the same rubbery look as the tips of his boots. Henry also noticed that his pinkie seemed smaller than usual.

He gulped as he noticed the changes and the feelings of panic from earlier started to spread throughout his entire body. He cradled his head in his hands while trying to stay calm. What the heck was happening to him?

First, he couldn't take his shoes off and now something was up with his hands. Slowly, he sat up from his hunched over position. Whatever was happening seemed to be beyond his control as he had no idea what might even be causing something like this in the first place. He clenched his hands at the thought. Surely there was something he could do to stop whatever this was.

Henry hopelessly tried to figure some way out of this situation, but nothing came to him. Henry suddenly stopped his thought process though. A kind of courage began to overtake the panic within him. He steeled himself. Surely there were worse things in life he could face than this. He had faced worse before, much worse.

Standing up, he decided to take a walk around the camp to clear his head. Even with his newfound confidence though, Henry was still a little terrified over what was happening to him.

As he stepped out of his tent and into the evening air, he could only think about how he hoped things wouldn't get any worse anytime soon. As he started his walk though, something told him that was just wistful thinking.

 

Joey scratched away at the drawing a bit more before leaning back. He took a look at the drawing and studied his work. Frowning, he leaned forward added a few more things to it before nodding in satisfaction.

He had gotten the idea to draw Henry as a cartoon for some reason. Maybe from his experiments with Henry? He simply shrugged at the thought. He had been experimenting with different looks all day and had finally settled on a final concept drawing.

It was Henry wearing black slacks, a white dress shirt, and gray waistcoat with a black bowtie. He had dark gray hair, pie cut eyes, classic cartoon gloves, and some shiny black shoes like Bendy's with white spats on them. Joey had based the concept on the time that he had a formal dinner for the employees at the studio a few years ago. Henry had been all dressed up then and he was here too.

Sighing, he put down the pen and slid all of the drawings into a new folder in his drawer that he had labeled “Henry.” He shut the drawer before getting up and walking out of the room to go talk to Sammy. He needed to tell him something, something important. He had finally made a breakthrough in his research.

As Joey walked away though, he didn’t know of the chain of events he had just set off nor that his newest “creation” was coming to life.


	4. War is Never Fair

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the comments guys! :D

Henry ducked his head as another mortar was fired. Bullets rang out from both sides.and bombarded the men in the trenches. Henry added to the gunfire by firing his own gun. When he finally ran out of bullets, he reached for another cartridge to put into his gun.

His eyes caught a look at his bandaged hands though and he paused. Slowly, he raised his hands up to eye level. His face took a rather panicked look for a moment before fading a bit. It was what was beneath those bandages that terrified him.

Over the last few months, the condition of his hands and feet had gotten worse. His hands had become full on cartoonish gloves complete with him losing his pinkie about a month or so back. They were white as freshly fallen snow and no matter what got on them, they stayed that way.

He had covered them in bandages to hide them, but it still felt odd to only have four fingers on each hand. He was surprised that no one had noticed that fact yet, but then again, they had a war vying for their attention as well.

Being reminded of that, he glanced down at his feet that were thoroughly caked in mud. That was good lest what was underneath become visible. Thanks to whatever had caused his gloves, his feet had been given a makeover too. Henry's feet were now fully encased in a pair of black, shiny shoes with white spats on them. He knew that if he cleaned them off right now, there wouldn't be a stain on them.

Sighing, he pulled his attention away from the gloves and shoes and reloaded his gun. He wanted to draw right now. Drawing always helped, it helped kept his mind off the war and all the horrors it brought. He had trying to avoid that too lately though. For some reason, the ink from his pen had begun to look rather tasty.

He shook his head to clear away his thoughts. He needed to stay focused. He had a long day ahead of him, a long day of staying alive.

 

It was time for a night patrol into no man’s land to scout out the area. Henry was one of the lucky six to be selected for that night.They were mainly checking for any gaps in their defenses or if there were any enemy listening posts. They split into groups of two much to his partner's chagrin.

His partner's name was Eric and he had suggested the idea that they should work by themselves, to “cover more ground” he had said. The idea had been shot down by the squad leader at the thought of that if one of their groups was attacked, they would at least have somebody with them to help them out.

He and Eric were currently the farthest into no man’s land, so much so that Henry could see the German trenches in the distance. Eric seemed slightly angry about having his plan brushed off the way it was, but Henry didn't really think anything else about it.

Living in the trenches the way they did was enough to make anyone irritable. So far there wasn't anything to fix, but they both kept looking. Eric kept glancing at him though and he didn't really know why. Was something up?

The sound of footsteps other than their own caused Henry to bring his gun up and aim it at the noise. The moon was out that night, a waxing gibbous so the light it gave off was excellent. Several figures were beginning to become visible to Henry. He squinted into the darkness to try and get a better look. Were they allies or Germans?

As they came closer, he noticed that the uniforms were German. Knowing that was all he needed to see, he cocked his gun and got ready to fire if necessary. He never got to do anything though. A blow to the back of his head made him crumple to the ground.

Looking up one more time as he started to fade out, he noticed Eric standing over him with his gun held like baseball bat with a smirk on his face.

“I'm sorry to have to do this Henry. I tried to keep you out of it, but it just wasn't meant to be. I can't have you firing on my friends after all or telling anyone else about my little secret. They agreed to pay me handsomely for any information I can give them.” said Eric nonchalantly before smiling.

“Have fun.” he added.

Henry only moaned in reply.

Black pricked at the edges of his vision. He watched as Eric turned his head and told the approaching Germans that he was all theirs.

“That traitor…” thought Henry as darkness finally consumed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, how have the chapter titles been so far? Good? Bad?


	5. An Inkling of Regret

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the continued kudos!

Joey grinned. It was finally complete! He had gotten the idea for it not too long after Henry had been drafted and had pitched it to the other members of the studio.

At first, they had been reluctant to help fund the idea until a letter had arrived. It was addressed to Joey and was from Henry. Joey had been a little worried about opening at first as he wasn't sure what was inside it, but he had finally given in.

What he had found inside had made him want to cry. Henry had sent him fifty dollars along with a note. It had read:

_Dear Joey,_

_I know when I left we weren't on the best of terms, but we’ve fought before and you're my friend. Nothing can change that. I know you're going to come up with some scheme while I'm away so I decided to help you out by helping you fund it. Use it for whatever you need and good luck. Hope to see you someday again._

_Sincerely,_

_Henry Stein_

Even when he was away, Henry was thoughtful. Joey shook his head in wonder at the memory. He could expect nothing less from Henry. The world could be ending, but he would still take the time to come by your house and have coffee with you.

Sammy and Henry’s wife, Sara had been staying in contact with Henry while he was away through letters. Sammy and Henry had actually been closer than Joey had thought. They had sometimes hung out outside of the studio, but their friendship obviously went deeper than that. Sara usually sent Henry care packages of some kind and the sweetest love letters. Sammy mainly just updated him on what was going on at the studio and the outside world.

The funny thing was that Joey has told everyone his plans after Sammy had already sent his monthly letter to Henry so he couldn't have told Henry about them. Joey had asked Sammy though to tell Henry thank you for him in his next letter. He said he would, but seemed to find the request a little odd.

Joey knew why though. Sammy expected him to personally write to Henry and thank him for his contribution. He couldn't write a letter to Henry though and tell him thank you.

He had felt such regret for using his friend the way he did especially after that letter. It had been bad before, but that had just made it so much worse. He couldn't write Henry a letter. He didn't deserve to talk to him after all that he had done to Henry.

As far as he knew, the experiment hadn't had an effect on Henry. Joey kept telling himself that and knew that was what kept him going every day along with the studio and everyone depending on him. That letter had changed everything though.

When everyone else saw what Henry had done they had come to a silent agreement to help out Joey on Henry's behalf. Together, it was enough to bring Joey's idea to life, the ink machine.

Coming out of memory lane, Joey took a step back to admire it. Not only did it help provide ink to everyone in the building, but it also helped power it. Some of the ink actually helped push some turbines that generated electricity for the studio.

Sure some of the pipes leaked once in a while and the machine could be a little loud, but he had made sure to build it far away from the music department and the recording studio as to ensure that it didn't disturb anyone there.

Putting down the wrench in his hand on a chair beside him, he turned around and grinned at Sammy, Susie, and the other studio members. While the other uses for the ink machine were great, there was a specific reason that the ink machine was built, to bring cartoons to life.

Sammy grinned back at him surprisingly and handed him the drawings. Joey gently let his hand close around the drawings and took them from Sammy. Almost with a sense of reverence, he inserted the drawings into their respective slots and double checked the tank at the back of the machine. It was full of ink.

Nodding in satisfaction, he heard a grinding of gears and knew that machine was up and running, ready to achieve its true purpose.

A few moments of silence followed save the sounds of the ink machine going about its work. Shivering with anticipation, Joey gazed upon the spigot of the ink machine. He was not disappointed. Ink started pooling out of the nozzle before stopping after a minute or so. At first, it sat there and did nothing causing everyone in the room to exchange nervous glances.

A hint of movement though drew their attention. The pile of ink twitched and then it twisted. The ink began morphing into an all too familiar shape. A small figure began to appear with arms, legs, a torso, and a head. White coloration covered their face and a white bowtie came to be right below their head.

Before they knew it, the moment of truth arrived and they were not disappointed. Black pie-cut eyes looked around the room with innocence and wonder. Joey was the one who smiled the biggest that day. Carefully, he approached the living cartoon.

“Hello there little fella. What's your name?” asked Joey softly.

The toon considered the question for a moment before replying. He pointed to himself as he spoke his words.

“I'm Bendy the Dancing Demon! Who are you and the people behind you?” Bendy said enthusiastically.

“I’m Joey Drew Bendy and we’re your family. Welcome to the world.”

At that, Bendy smiled too.

 

Henry woke up to the sound of voices. The other thing he immediately noticed was that his head was throbbing. The voices seemed to drone on and on in his ears, but all he saw was darkness.

Realizing that he had his eyes closed, he tried to open his eyes, but it was as if they were made of lead. After a few tries, he finally managed to get his eyelids unstuck from his eyeballs.

He was lying down on something and there were people standing the doorway of the room he was in, talking. He guessed he was on a bed of some kind.

Sighing, he slowly sat up trying not to aggravate his headache anymore than needed. Henry rubbed his head as an afterthought before thinking of something. He quickly glanced down at his hands and to his relief, they were still bandaged. He looked down his feet next and found that they were still muddy as ever. In fact, he was still in his uniform. A fast check of his pockets and around him notified him that his gun and other supplies were missing.

Trying to remember what had transpired before he came here, he looked back at the people in the doorway. One of them was wearing a worn out pair of pants and a shirt while the other person was dressed in a German uniform.

Groaning as he began to remember how he got here, Henry tried to stand up off the bed. Henry balled his fists at the thought of what Eric had done. He would like to give that man a good kick down under right about now. He managed to stand up and stagger over to where the men were.

The pain pounding in his skull did nothing to help his efforts. The men stopped talking as they saw that Henry was up. The man in the worn clothes went to help Henry, but the German told him to stop. He hesitated before backing off.

“You! Now that you're up, I can tell you what I was just telling your friend here.” said the soldier with a wolfish smile.

Henry decided the best course of action at the moment was not to cause trouble.

“Yes, sir.” Henry simply replied.

The soldier looked at him and frowned. He stepped forward and butted his gun into Henry's stomach. Henry practically collapsed from the blow. The other man though quickly grabbed him and helped hold him up. The soldier didn't stop him and simply smirked at their actions.

“Word on the street has it that you were an animator at a studio. You’ll be helping Trevor here with some posters and such. Congrats on becoming our _guest_.” said the German before laughing.

He smirked again before walking around the corner past the guard. Trevor helped Henry back to the bed. After he was sitting on the bed again, Trevor sat down beside him.

“Don't let 'em get ta ya. They're always like that.”

Henry simply nodded in reply, but very gently. Being introduced to that bozo's gun had not helped his headache.

“The name’s Trevor.” he said as held out his hand.

Henry looked down at Trevor's hand and then his own. He hesitated but decided to shake it anyway.

“My name is Henry.”

Trevor smiled at Henry before raising an eyebrow as they separated.

“What is it?” asked Henry a bit nervously.

Trevor smiled. “Ya hand’s squishy. Never mind that though, let me explain what's goin’ on.”

Trevor eyed Henry for a moment before starting.

“First of all, ya a POW now. I don't know how they got ya, but all I know is that we’re in northern Poland. Now I myself used to draw some comics for a paper back in the States. 'cause of that, they got me helpin’ with their stinkin’ propaganda posters and animatin’ some shorts for 'em. Little advice from me ta ya, don't cause too much trouble 'round here and ya'll be fine. They treat us purdy well thanks ta the Geneva Accords, but they still can get a bit rough at times. They should put us back in our room lata. Don't know why they wanna keep us separate from the others. Anyways, they wanted me to talk to ya first about stuff. They're all a bunch of stinkin’ Germans though.” Trevor finished his spiel before handing Henry a bundle of clothes.

“These are for ya ta change inta.”

“Thanks.” Henry mumbled.

It seemed that his headache was finally starting to go down a bit. He tugged off his uniform and changed into the provided clothes. He kept the bandages on his hands though. Trevor waited for him to finish before standing up and walking towards the door.

“Let me show ya 'round Henry and what we're gonna be doin’.”

“Ok.” Henry stood up and followed Trevor.

A moment later, a small smile graced his face despite the circumstances. Looks like he might have at least one friend in this place.


	6. Ups and Downs

A few weeks later found Henry starting to get into a routine at the German POW camp he was at. He had met some of the other prisoners, but none of them were as friendly as Trevor.

Trevor had managed to swipe Henry's drawing notebook and pen from when they had been relieving him of his gun and supplies. Henry had hugged Trevor for several minutes as a result leaving the man begging for air. He had been drawing almost every day in that notebook with some of the drawings being of Bendy and co.

No one had bothered him about the fact that his hands were bandaged. Trevor still commented that his hands were squishy, but nothing more ever came of the subject. The shoes weren't even given a second glance as most of the prisoners at the camp had muddy shoes.

There were a few things though that he didn't like. The food could have been better and more frequently distributed, but at least they weren't starving. The guards sometimes gave them a hard time for no reason, but you learned to just deal with it.

Henry was currently working on a poster that encouraged people to join the Nazi party. He frowned the entire time as he went about his work. He hated having to make posters for such an appalling cause. Trevor called it stinkin’. Everything was stinkin’ to Trevor. A small smirk made its way onto Henry's face for a moment before fading back into a frown.

Subconsciously, he began chewing on his pen again, something that was beginning to become a habit. After realizing what he was doing, he quickly took the pen out of his mouth. He did it a little too quickly though. In his haste, Henry knocked over a bottle of acetone on the edge of his desk that they used as an ink remover.

With Henry's luck in play, the acetone landed right on top of Henry's left hand. Nothing happened at first before he felt as if his hand was on fire. Soon the bandages seemed to sag inwards and were quickly becoming stained with a black liquid.

Tears started falling from Henry's eyes at the pain while a whimper escaped his throat. Trevor, who was working beside him, heard it and turned his head to see what was going on.

“What in tarnation!” shouted Trevor as he got a good look at Henry's hand.

Henry was shamelessly crying at this point and tried to staunch the “bleeding” with his other hand. The shout caught the attention of a guard who looked into the room to find out what was going on. His eyes widened and his mouth hung open at the sight of Henry's melting hand.

The guard called out and told another soldier to go get a doctor. Meanwhile, Trevor just stared at Henry's hand and shook his head. He looked into Henry's tear stained eyes.

“What are ya?” he asked softly.

Henry could only shrug helplessly as he started screaming from the pain.

 

Sara stroked her chin for a moment before putting her pen down. She tapped a finger on the desk to try and help her concentrate. She was trying to write a letter to Henry.

Suddenly, an idea hit her. She could try writing a love poem to him. She wasn't half bad at poetry, but she certainly was no Robert Frost. Sara shrugged though and decided to try her hand at it.

A hour or so later, she refilled her pen using an inkwell and finished the last line. She stretched her sore muscles and shook out her hands to loosen them. Glancing down, she read what she had written.

Don't you feel,

don't you see,

the strength of the bond,

between you and me,

 

Don't you know,

don't you hear,

the whispers of love,

lingering in your ear,

 

Even if you don't,

then to you I’ll show,

that I have and will,

love you more than you know,

 

I’ll hold your hand,

and squeeze just a bit,

so that you're not alone,

going through all of it,

 

I’ll hug you tightly,

like death’s embrace,

until I see a smile,

back on your face,

 

I’ll show you that,

things can look up,

that you can stop drinking,

from misery’s cup,

 

I’ll let you feel,

more than anger and hate,

that you're always welcome,

and help lift the weight,

 

May you always,

sense my heart,

and it's love for you,

when we're apart,

 

May you never,

feel all alone,

and that when you're with me,

you’re always at home,

 

I love you,

in more ways than you can count,

from the deepest seas,

to the highest mount,

 

Always remember,

that you are loved,

and that there never is,

a lack thereof…

She blinked her eyes for a moment in surprise. It had come out a lot better than she thought it would. Smiling, she finished writing the rest of the letter to Henry and sealed it in an envelope. She licked the stamp and wrote down the address on top of the envelope.

Sara could only hope that he was doing well at the moment. She smiled again. She had something to tell Henry when he got back from the war. A knock at the door interrupted her thoughts. Going to the front door, she opened it. Her heart stopped. A Western Union messenger stood outside her door.

“Can I help you?” Sara asked nervously.

“I have a telegram for you from the War Department ma'am.” replied the messenger, a young boy with brown hair and green eyes.

He held out a telegram for her to take. With shaking fingers, she grabbed the envelope from him. She managed to gasp out a “thank you” before heading inside. The boy tipped his hat, walked off of the porch, and rode off on his bicycle.

Sara shut the door behind her and tore open the envelope. Yellow paper with the words “Regret to inform you” appeared in her line of vision. She covered her open mouth with a hand as tears began to leak from her eyes. Henry was missing in action. He wasn't dead, but the army didn't know where he was.

Sobs filled the room as Sara began wondering where in the world her husband could be. She sunk down to the floor and hugged herself as she felt her heart fill to the brim with worry. A random thought appeared in her mind. She should call the studio to let them know what was happening. She could do that later though.

Her poor, sweet Henry was God knows where at the moment. The same Henry who would make her meals when she was sick, the same Henry who had been there to comfort her when her grandfather had died, the same Henry who had asked her to marry him.

As tears slid down her face, she hoped to God that wherever her husband was that he was safe and would live to see the end of this horrid war.


	7. As Life Goes On

Henry was held still by several burly guards as the doctor unwound the bandages wrapped around his hands. The left one was soaked through with a black substance, whatever his hands were made of nowadays. 

Once the bandages were off, the doctor inspected his hands. The left one was a sodden mess and still stung from the acetone being poured on it. Henry wondered for a moment why acetone would have that kind of effect on him. It would only affect him if…

Henry was brought out of his thoughts when the doctor poked what was left of his hand. The doctor took a sample of the substance and held it under his nose to sniff it. The man’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. 

He took a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped his hand with it before taking a look at Henry's other hand. His glove was still intact on that one in all its cartoonish glory.

The man poked the glove a bit before rubbing it a bit. The doctor seemed intrigued by it and smiled in what looked like anticipation. He frowned however when he saw Henry's other hand.

“How do you fix this?” asked the doctor.

“What?” replied Henry as he was surprised by the question.

The doctor slapped Henry on the cheek and the guards kept him from falling backwards from the blow.

“I said, how do you fix this?”

“I don't know sir, I’ve never had something like this happen before.”

The doctor looked like he was about to slap Henry again when Trevor jumped into the conversation.

“I really don't think he knows sir.” offered Trevor as he walked towards the group with his hands held placatingly in front of him.

The doctor scowled at Trevor before thinking for a moment. He turned to Trevor.

“Do you know how to fix this?”

Trevor gulped at the question before glancing around nervously. After a moment's hesitation, he answered.

“I don't know for sure, but I think I’ve got an idea though.”

The doctor looked at him skeptically for a moment.

“I want you to take these to two to my office. And please somebody put something under this one’s…hand so it stops dripping everywhere.” ordered the doctor.

Trevor quickly grabbed a pen and an inkwell when he realized they were leaving. He and Henry were then led out of the building and across the camp to the doctor’s office. Surprisingly, no one really saw them. Then again, no one was really around at the time. 

They were ushered into two chairs in an examining area and a pan was placed under Henry's hand so he didn't drip everywhere. The guards closed the door behind them and stood in front of it so they couldn't escape.

“Get started on fixing his hand!” yelled one of soldiers through the door. 

Trevor scooted his chair over to Henry.

“Now I don't know for sure if this will work, but I'm goin’ ta try. Please hold out ya other hand.”

Henry obliged his request and held out his other hand. Trevor pulled the chair around so that it faced Henry. He refilled the pen using the inkwell and brought the tip to what was left of Henry's left wrist. 

He started sketching the cuff of the glove and surprisingly a black outline began to appear. Trevor crosshatched the cuff once the outline was finished. He then moved on to the main portion of the glove using the other hand as a guide for the drawing. 

Soon four fingers could be seen appearing as well. To Trevor, it was almost as if something was guiding his hand as he worked. The minutes ticked by as Trevor worked on Henry. Before they knew it, almost an hour had passed. 

Trevor sat back in chair as he finished. He had been leaning forward almost the entire time and stretching out of his sore muscles was wonderful. Henry followed his example and gave his muscles a good unwinding.

Afterwards, he brought his hand down and inspected it. The outline of the glove was present with crosshatching all over the glove itself. It mainly looked like a mass of black lines in the shape of a glove was attached to Henry's arm. 

A grunt of admiration caused Trevor and Henry to look up towards the noise. The doctor had come into the office sometime when Trevor had been working on Henry's hand. He walked forward and inspected the glove. He glanced at Trevor.

“You may leave now. One of the guards outside will escort you to back to your workstation.” announced the doctor. 

Trevor looked as if he was going to say something, but a glare from the doctor quickly silenced him. He went to grab the inkwell.

“Leave that.” said the doctor. 

Trevor stopped, glanced at Henry, and headed to the door. As the door opened, the doctor yelled for four of the soldiers to come in. The four soldiers filed into the room and looked at the doctor expectantly. With a smirk, the doctor gestured to Henry and then to a metal examining table off to side with restraints on it.

Henry, who been following the silent conversation, had already gotten out of his seat and was headed for the door. He almost made it, but was caught by two of the guards before he could escape. 

They quickly brought him over to the table and with the help of the other two, strapped him in. The guards left the room once they finished their job and Henry discovered after a few hard yanks that he wasn't going anywhere.

The doctor hummed as he strolled over to Henry and smiled.

“Hello my little patient. You are quite the unique specimen. Usually I wouldn't be doing this, but since you're such a unique case, I will mostly be ignoring the Geneva Accords.” 

The doctor picked up the inkwell that Trevor had left behind.

“I also believe that I know a way to finish fixing your hand though your friend didn't do half a bad job.” 

Henry scowled at the doctor and was about to reply when the doctor shoved the top of the inkwell into Henry's mouth. Henry tried to spit it out, but the doctor held it firmly in place. Henry could feel the ink dripping onto his tongue, the flavor of it seeping into his taste buds. 

For some reason, the taste of the ink reminded him of the coffee Joey used to give him and was somewhat pleasant. He sputtered as it reached his throat, trying to get it out. He knew if he didn't do something soon though, he'd start choking on it. Since the ink had nowhere else to go, he was forced to swallow it. 

A few seconds after he swallowed the ink, his left hand began to feel strange. He glanced down at it and saw that the crosshatching was becoming solid and white in coloration. Slowly the glove became complete again and Henry's hand was fully repaired. Satisfied with the results, the doctor removed the inkwell and smiled down at Henry again.

“Very interesting. I believe you and I are going to have lots of fun.”

Henry could only gulp in reply.

 

“And this is the music department!” said Joey while gesturing with his hands.

Alex raised an eyebrow at the movement. Mr. Drew was very…dramatic. A loud scream rang out through the area as a man covered in a black substance chasing after what appeared to be a large, black and white cat came into view. They soon disappeared around the corner.

“Ah, that's our resident distressed chimney with a temper and our mischievous mascot!” explained Joey.

Alex just sighed. So this is what they had signed up for. No wonder there hadn't been any competition for the internship. Joey gestured for them to keep following him.

“On to the animation department!” Alex trudged after Joey.

“That's a wild Wally! He feeds on ink puddles.”

Wally Franks looked up from the ink puddle he was mopping up and frowned. Alex awkwardly waved at him. Joey led Alex away from Wally and deeper into the studio. As they walked down the hall, several of the animators peeked out of their offices and waved at Alex and Joey. This time Alex waved back without feeling awkward. Mr. Drew was a bit enthusiastic it seemed to introduce them to the other employees. Alex just sighed again as they trailed after Joey.

 

Sammy growled. Today was not a good day. Sure it was bad enough when Bendy played pranks on him, but today, today was so much worse. For today was the day that he had had to watch his eight year old niece and nephew, Faith and Marcus. He knew that they could both be cheeky, but as soon as they had met Bendy, a new reign of terror, the scale of which the studio had never seen, was revealed.

“Welcome to my special hell.” muttered Sammy as he tried to unstick his hands from his desk. 

They had coated the top in clear glue and now his hands were stuck to it. Sammy's temper began rising. This was his brother's fault. He had called him out of nowhere to ask him to watch his kids for the day the night before and had taken Sammy's sputtering as a yes. Next thing Sammy knew, the twins were at his doorstep the next morning as he was about to head to work. 

With no other choice, Sammy took them with him and had managed to convince Joey to let them stay for the day. Sammy banged his head against the desk. It had been going great until they had met Bendy.

They had just been sitting there quietly while he worked and then the dancing demon just had to stick his head in. Of course they hadn't freaked out, no, they had been overjoyed by the fact that one of their favorite cartoons had come to life. They all got an evil smile on their faces and for their first prank, they had left a bucket of ink on top of Sammy's door where it could fall on him. 

After losing the twins in the maze of the studio and failing to catch Bendy, Sammy had stalked back to his office. Nobody had bothered him, giving him a wide berth as they noticed his less than stellar mood. He had sat down at his desk and had tried to calm down. He had put his hands on his desk and that's when he discovered the glue.

Sammy tried to lift his head off of his desk before he realized that too was now stuck to the desk. Sammy grit his teeth. He really needed a good smoke after all of this crap.

 

“We’ll be having you working with Norman today Alex.”

Joey and Alex walked onto the balcony that overlooked the music department. Norman was there fixing part of the projector that appeared to be broken.

“Alex, this is Norman, our part time projectionist, part time skulker.” 

Norman looked up from the projector and stared at Joey who smirked at him. Joey knew that Norman could be sassy and he wanted to hear what he would say to that remark.

“Ah, Mr. Drew, I see you managed to find another recruit. You truly have the eyes of an eagle.”

Joey's smirk faded. What was Norman playing at? Alex raised an eyebrow at the response.

“Come to think of it, you have the wisdom of an owl too for getting us some more help around here. Keeps less people from having to run around. Then again that should be no problem for you as you have the grace of a swan.” added Norman as he went back to fixing the projector.

Joey, still unsure of what Norman was going for, nodded in reply to the comments. Norman looked at Alex directly for a moment before looking back down.

“Alex, the thing you got to remember around here is that Mr. Drew,” Norman paused for a moment letting the suspense build.

“Is for the birds.” he finished without looking up. 

Joey's mouth dropped open at the last comment before he closed his mouth again. A small smile played upon his lips. Norman had done it again. Joey opened his mouth to reply when Alex added their two cents.

“Good thing I’m not a bird brain then.” announced Alex.

This caused Norman to look up at Alex again and this time a smile seemed to tugging at his lips.

“The name is Norman, Norman Polk. I have a feeling that we will get along just fine Alex.”

Norman held out a hand which Alex gladly took and shook. Joey facepalmed at the display. Maybe introducing these two hadn't been such a good idea. Better yet, hiring Alex might not have been the best idea. Just what the studio needed, another Norman.


	8. Anger and Anguish

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the continued kudos!

Henry was once again tied down to the doctor's table for his daily examination.

“Like he ever does anything besides experimenting on me.” grumbled Henry with a huff. 

Speaking of which, the doctor had walked into the room.

“I going to keep it short and sweet today as I have other things to attend to. Let's begin shall we?” the doctor announced to Henry. 

Henry frowned at the remark. Ever since he was discovered a few weeks ago, the Germans had been studying him and had conducted a few less than pleasant experiments on him. His frown deepened as he saw the doctor pick up a scalpel from the tray on the small table beside him.

The doctor brought the scalpel over to Henry's exposed gloves before reaching for a pan behind him and placed it under Henry's hand. With calculated precision, the scalpel was plunged into his hand. Henry cried out at the sensation though the pain felt strangely muted from the area.

Black ink welled up to the surface of the cut, not red blood. After a moment, the cut closed itself leaving a few beads of black ink against the glove’s white backdrop. The doctor looked intrigued at this and sliced Henry's other hand only to be met with the same result.

Smiling, the doctor cut open both of Henry’s hands and the wounds soon healed on those as well. Henry yelped as the process continued when the doctor turned his attention to Henry's feet. After he was finished, he made a few notes on what he observed.

“All right, we’re almost done. There is just one more thing I would like to do.” the doctor said with a rather sadistic smirk.

Henry wondered what the last thing was going to be when the man turned around with a bottle of clear liquid. Henry's face paled at the sight. He tried to jerk away, but his bonds held him fast.

“We’ve already seen what this does to your hands, but not your feet. We're about to find out though.” 

Henry watched in horror as the lid was taken off the bottle. The pan from earlier was left under his feet as the doctor tipped the opened bottle over Henry's feet. Acetone splashed onto his shoes and was there for a moment before a horrible burning sensation erupted from the area.

Henry whimpered at first before he started screaming. It was even worse than the time with his hand. The feeling slowly began to die down with the sound of dripping ink filling the room as his screams quieted as well.

“Seems to have a similar effect. Well, that will be all for today. Make sure you have your friend fix you up as I wouldn't want my favorite patient to remain in such a _simply horrid_ condition.”

The doctor unstrapped Henry from the table and waited for Henry to sit up. He then wordlessly brought forth a wheelchair that had been against the wall. Henry tentatively slid off the table and into the waiting seat. A guard was summoned. He entered the room and grabbed the handle bars on the back of the chair and began pushing Henry out of the room.

The trip back to the room he and Trevor shared was relatively quick and he was left sitting on his bed by the guard. A few of the other prisoners had given him odd looks as he had passed by, but mainly just avoided him.

Another pan had been attached to the wheelchair where his feet would have been to ensure that he didn't leak ink everywhere. He knew Trevor wouldn't be around for a while and with his feet the way they were, he wasn't going anywhere. Then again, he could try fixing his feet himself. With that thought, he brought out his pen and leaned forwards.

He tried to start drawing the outline of his left foot, but nothing seemed to be happening. He tried it again on his right foot. Nothing happened there either. Unsure of what was going on, Henry put his pen away and sat back up. It was strange that Trevor could fix him, but he couldn't fix himself. The thought reminded him of a while back when he was first found out. He suddenly remembered, Joey!

He growled. So it was Joey's fault that this was happening to him. He had known that coffee had tasted funny, but no, he had listened to Joey. He buried his face in his hands. He had fallen for it hook, line, and sinker.

He straightened back up. Joey had always told him that he was too nice for his own good. Come to think of it though, what was he becoming? He really had been avoiding that thought as of late, but now it was time to find some answers.

He looked down at his gloves. They were white with two black ovals on the back of them. Not to mention, he only had four fingers now on each hand. If only to have his pinkies back. Shaking his head, he focused again on the state of his hands.

He also bled ink, not blood from them. Henry did not like where his thoughts were headed. Acetone causing his feet and hands to melt, a lack of pain, and how quickly he healed. If he didn't know better, he’d say he was becoming a freakin' cartoon character! But that couldn't happen right? Right?Henry held his hands up to his face and looked at them. He sighed defeatedly. He really was becoming one wasn't he.

Feelings of panic suddenly gripped Henry as he thought more about his situation. Oh gosh, how was he going to explain this to Sara? Would she accept him? Now that was just a positively silly thought, of course she would accept him! What would the rest of the studio think? Golly, he hoped everyone was doing well. He hadn't been able to send anyone a letter in forever. Sara was probably beside herself with worry. They had probably told her that he was missing in action.

Oh Sara, how he wanted to kiss her, hug her, and show that he was alive right now! He was stuck here for the moment though. He just had to survive this war for Sara’s sake and all of his friends at the studio’s sake. Heck, even for Joey. When he saw that man again, he was going to give him what for. Still, if anyone could pull off turning a human into a cartoon, it would be Joey Drew.

As Henry sat in the room alone with his thoughts and waiting for Trevor, he couldn't decide whether he wanted to congratulate and praise Joey next time he saw him or rip the guy a new one.

 

Singing was heard in the halls of Joey Drew Studios, but not from an expected source. It wasn't from Susie. No, this singing came from a rather frustrated janitor. Wally Franks was busy mopping an ink puddle from a leaky overheard pipe.

Thomas would be around shortly to fix the pipe while Wally took care of the ink. The pipes actually didn't leak that often and mostly didn't cause any trouble. When they did though, the ink was such a hassle to clean up. Wally continued to sing the lyrics to a song he had come up with the other day.

Forget this ink I'm out! 

Mmmm hmmmm,

Forget this ink I'm out! 

No thanks!

Don't mind me,

I'm just gonna grab my mop and leave, 

Excuse me please,

Forget this ink I'm out!

Nope!

Forget this ink I'm out! 

Alright then, 

I don't know what’s leaking again, 

But I don't really care, 

I'm just gonna get the heck up outta here,

Forget this ink I'm out!

Wally finished singing the final verse when he heard clapping. He jumped. His head jerked up and he glanced over towards the noise. Norman Polk was clapping his hands and had a small smile on his face.

“You come up with that yourself Wally?” asked Norman.

Wally sighed in relief.

“Norman! Don't do that! You scared me half to death!” exclaimed Wally.

Norman chuckled in response before shaking his head. Wally rubbed the back of his neck once he had calmed down as he looked a little sheepish.

“Yea...it was just something to think about as I worked really and then it became a song…” 

Norman smiled a bit more.

“Well, you're not half bad. Maybe you should join a barbershop quartet or something.”

Wally blinked in surprise.

“You really think so?”

“Go for it Wally, you probably one of the youngest out of all of us. Enjoy some time with some people your own age.” encouraged Norman.

“Geez, thanks Norman! One my friends had been trying to get me to join his for a while so why not?”

Wally paused in his mopping as he looked at the ceiling with a big grin.

“Hey Wally, there was another reason why I came by.”

“Oh, what's that?”

“Mr. Drew wanted everyone to meet him in the break room.”

“Ok, let's go then.”

Norman nodded and started off down the hall. Wally started to follow, but glanced back at the ink puddle one more time. He stuck his tongue out at it before following after Norman again.

As Norman and Wally walked into the break room, they were met with a rather interesting sight. Joey was wearing a pinstripe suit of white and neon yellow that looked absolutely horrible on him and Alex was sharing their opinion of his fashion sense with him.

“Mr. Drew, if the fashion police existed, you would get a life sentence.” remarked Alex.

Joey sighed.

“The only reason I'm wearing this is because I lost a bet to Grant. This is his fault, not mine.”

“Sure, Mr. Drew, whatever you say.” replied Alex.

Joey sighed again before a small smile played at his lips. Alex was really starting to grow on him. Between them and Norman, he got his daily dose of sass. Wally gave him his daily dose of complaints and Sammy gave him his daily dose of being a fog horn. Really, if that man wasn't a music composer, he could make his living being a boat’s fog horn.

Snorting at the thought, he glanced at Bendy to see what he was doing. Bendy was behaving for once and was sitting on the table beside where he was standing swinging his feet and whistling with little black ink notes appearing.

Joey was looking forward to bringing Boris to life soon, but he needed to make sure that all of the drawings were perfect first. Then again, being a perfectionist had caused him to be on the losing end of the bet in the first place.

He looked around to make sure everyone was present before clearing his throat. The chattering died down and the room became silent. 

Joey was not happy about the news he was about to deliver. It was bad enough for him to find out about, but to have to be the bearer of bad news to others? Joey shook his head to clear his thoughts before starting.

“I am sure many of you are wondering why I gathered you here today. I won't beat around the bush, it's because of a letter I got from Sara.”

A few gasps were heard from around the room along with some whispering.

“According to the letter, Henry was reported to be MIA several months ago. He has not been found yet. The reason why Sara took so long to tell us this news is because she herself is dying of pancreatic cancer. She is in the last stages of it and has been in the hospital as of late. That is all.”

As Joey finished his last words, murmurings sprung up all around the room. Joey looked around to see everyone's reactions. Norman and Alex looked shocked, Sammy was openly crying with Susie, Wally had a few tears slipping down his face, heck, the entire room looked stuck between believing what was just read to them and coming to terms that two good friends of theirs were dying or possibly already dead.

Joey felt a few tears slip down his own face. He looked down at the floor and squeezed his eyes shut. Why Henry? Why did you have to go missing like that? And Sara, sweet, sweet, Sara. She didn't deserve this.

She was the one who brought in fresh baked pies to the studio workers, who helped write some of the song lyrics for the show occasionally, and was there to just give a helping hand to whoever needed it whenever she came to the studio. Neither of them deserved this.

Joey felt something touch his clenched fist. He opened his eyes to see Bendy. Some of the ink on his head was becoming a bit runny and his cheeks were already streaked with inky tears. Without a moment's hesitation, Joey scooped him up and pulled him into a hug.

Together, they cried in their comforting embrace. As Joey held Bendy close to his chest all he could think about was that he hoped to God that Henry was safe and that if they ever met again and Henry found out what he had done to him is that Henry would forgive him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Strong Language  
> The song in the story is a parody of a section of the song "Fuck This Shit I'm Out" by The Theme Song on YouTube.


	9. Relationships at Their Finest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, the response to that last chapter blew me away. Thank you all so much for the continued support.

Trevor hummed as he sketched. A little bit here and a little bit there and wahlah! Oops, there was one spot that looked a little thin. A few more pen strokes and the problem was fixed. Seeing that his pen was almost out of ink, he removed the cartridge and refilled it with the inkwell next to him.

He moved downwards with his drawing as he had finished the portion from earlier. He looked up at Henry.

“Almost done with ya leg Henry. Just need ta finish up near ya knee.” announced Trevor.

“Thanks Trevor.” said Henry as he looked down at Trevor with an uneasy smile. 

Trevor sighed at the expression and went back to work. Ever since Henry had been found out, the stinkin’ Germans wouldn’t leave him alone. Out of curiosity, they had added ink to his diet to see what would happen. 

Henry had refused to ingest it at first even though he had admitted he had started to become fond of the taste. The Germans hadn’t liked that and had forced it down his throat while Trevor was held back and forced to watch after trying to stop them.

Eventually, Henry had willingly begun to take in ink and the results had been intriguing to all parties. His condition had begun to spread shortly after with his arms and legs being overtaken up to his elbows and knees. 

Of course, the doctor had wanted to conduct more tests on the newest additions to Henry’s anatomy which was the cause of his predicament right now.

“Alright, I’m done Henry.” noted Trevor as he finished up his last crosshatching on Henry’s leg.

Acetone really did do a number on the guy. Henry nodded in response and took the offered inkwell from Trevor and downed it. Black coloration flooded Henry’s leg while black and white swirled at his foot. The ink settled out and revealed a lower leg in a pair of black slacks and his typical footwear by this point.

Trevor still remembered when Henry had explained what exactly was happening to him. It had been a lot to take in. 

First of all, he was becoming a cartoon character. Second, his best friend had been slipping ink into his coffee for years and was the cause of him becoming a cartoon character.Third, Henry wanted to talk to and possibly forgive said man for what he done to him. Trevor knew that coming across people like Henry was a once in a lifetime event.

He was just so nice. He knew that if a friend of his had done something like that to him, he would have sent them packing with a nice new shiner to boot. In any case, Trevor admired Henry for enduring everything the doctor was putting him through and was annoyed that he couldn’t do more to help Henry.

He was basically his medic and he knew if he tried to stop those stinkin’ Germans there might not even be a medic to help take care of Henry anymore. Whenever Henry came in with his limbs half melted and dripping ink, he felt like such a failure as a friend. 

Henry still smiled at him though through the pain and told him it was going to be okay. He should be telling Henry that not the other way around! Since he had finally finished fixing up Henry's leg, they needed to report to the guard outside their door so they could go back to work.

As much as Trevor hated the fact he had to draw such stinkin’ things for the Germans it at least meant that he and Henry were useful to them and as such weren’t treated as badly as they could have been. 

Their living conditions were less than stellar and so was their food, but at least they both were still alive. Trevor was content for now, but he hoped that the war would end soon so they both could get out of this horrible place for his and Henry's sake.

 

“FRANKS!” Sammy's voice rang out through the studio and seemed to shake the building’s very foundations. 

Susie sighed at the noise. She was just trying to record Alice's portion for the next episode, but it seemed as if there was a certain problem that needed to be addressed first. Sammy was out of coffee. He only ever yelled that loud if they were out of coffee.

God knows that man needed it after dealing with the band. The band they had was great, but some of the musicians in it were short a few cards of a deck. There was only one way to handle this.

Susie walked out of the recording booth and started towards her desk. She passed by several people, but no one stopped to question her about where she was going. There wasn't a need to. They all knew what was happening and were more than happy to let her handle it.

Reaching her desk, she opened one of the drawers and pulled out a bag of coffee grounds. If one happened to look into that drawer in particular, they would find it filled to the brim with bags of ground up coffee.

Satisfied, Susie began her journey to the coffee percolator in the break room. Once again, no one stopped her. She made it to the coffee percolator and saw that not surprisingly, someone had taped an “out of coffee” sign to it.

“GOSH DARN IT DREW!” Sammy's voice once again thundered throughout the studio.

Sighing again, Susie hastily started another batch of coffee. If he was mad at Joey now, then things were escalating quickly. If he was yelling at the band, Sammy was ticked off, at Wally, angry, at Joey, furious. If he ever got mad at Henry, God help them all.

As soon as the coffee was done, she grabbed the percolator and booked it towards Sammy's office. Joey was standing in the doorway arguing with Sammy about something so Susie patiently waited for them to finish while she stood behind Joey. Without even trying, their conversation floated over to her ears.

"All I’m saying is that maybe you could get the music for this episode done a day or two earlier Sammy.” Joey tried to reason.

“For the last time Joey, the music around here doesn't write itself! I'm a musician, not a gosh darn magician!”

Susie facepalmed at the words exchanged.These two were both numbskulls. Clearing her throat in order to let them become aware of her presence, she decided that this discussion had gone on long enough. Joey twirled around at the noise with a startled look on his face. 

Susie saw Sammy smirking in the background at his reaction showing that he had noticed Susie upon her arrival. She rolled her eyes at their antics.

“Hey Joey, is there any way I can get by you to give Sammy some more coffee?” Susie asked as she held the coffee percolator up.

“Um, sure.” stammered Joey as he got out of the doorway.

“Thanks.” 

She made her way into Sammy's office and went straight for his empty coffee cup. Joey seemed to recover after a moment, shrugged his shoulders, and started walking away. He glanced over his shoulder though and gave one last parting remark.

“I expect that music to be a least a day early Sammy. You know we’ve been running a bit behind with David being sick and all. Not enough animators and not enough time. Sorry to put pressure on you like this. I am heading over to the animation department myself now to pitch in. If you need me, you can find me there.” Joey finished his spiel before disappearing around the corner.

Sammy moaned and put his face in his hands as Joey left.

“I'm going to be here so late tonight.” he groaned.

“Well, it wouldn't be the first time Sammy. In fact, the sooner you get started, the sooner you can leave. In the meantime, have some coffee. I heard your “desperate pleas.” In fact, you can have the rest of this batch too.” replied Susie.

Sammy looked at her gratefully and chugged down his full coffee cup. He poured himself some more and drank it more slowly.

“Thank you Susie. First Wally loses his keys again for the third time and then Joey wants me to be done with the music for the next episode a day or so early!” Sammy ranted as he ran a hand through his hair.

Susie came up behind Sammy and hugged him causing him to stop. He looked up at her and smiled before pausing for a moment.

“Hey, uh, Susie, do you want to uh, go out dancing with me tomorrow night?” Sammy said hesitantly. 

Susie gasped in surprise before blushing a bit.

“Sure Sammy, I’d love to dance the night away with you.” 

At that statement, Sammy's face lit up with a grin as wide as Bendy's. Susie chuckled a bit at his expression before giving him a quick peck on the cheek. Sammy's entire face went red and his eyes widened.

“See you later Sam Sam.” she added as she took her arms off of him and started to leave the room.

Sammy could only sputter in response as his face became even redder somehow. Susie laughed at his response and headed back to the recording studio her own cheeks dusted a light pink. Sammy meanwhile was in his chair and pumping his fists in the air. He had asked the woman he loved out!

A feeling of ecstasy erupted in his chest and he felt the urge to shout something to world to voice his happiness. Whatever compelled him to say what he said next was unknown, but he did it anyway. He took a deep breath and let it out.

“Can I get an amen?” 

In that moment, Sammy couldn't have been happier.


	10. Making Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the continued support guys. I just started a new semester a few weeks ago so it's been interesting lately so bear with me please.

In the months that followed in the wake of the news of Sara's sickness and Henry's disappearance, several things happened. Joey finally finished the drawings for Boris after what seemed like forever and Boris was brought to life.

Like last time, it was a studio wide event and everyone had been looking forward to it. Though Bendy occasionally played pranks, he had come to be adored by all of the studio members surprisingly even by Sammy. 

When Boris emerged from the machine, Bendy was jumping for joy and had a wide grin on his face. It only took a few seconds before he had jumped onto Boris with a hug and started talking to him about the studio. Everyone had laughed and introduced themselves to the new toon. Soon, it was not uncommon to see the two toons running around off on another adventure together.

The second thing that happened was Sammy and Susie's engagement. After their first date, things had quickly taken off. They went to the movies together, they had a walk in the park or two, and just enjoyed being in each other's company. At the studio, they often found some excuse to visit each other. 

Thanks to this, everyone had resolved to make sure that the couple would get together someday. After some encouragement, Sammy had finally worked up his nerve and had asked Susie to marry him. She had said yes with the joy of a thousand suns. They were currently planning their wedding. 

The third thing was Sara's funeral. Many of the studio members attended and the sorrowful event seemed to overshadow the happy ones in their lives. There was one thing though that certainly brought happiness to everyone's lives.

The toons had begun to take a liking to watching the various people around the studio work. Soon, they began to want to help out themselves with what they saw. As a result, Shawn Flynn and Grant Cohen had gained two new “assistants.” 

Boris had begun hanging out with Grant for a while now and had finally worked up the courage to ask Grant to teach him math. Grant had been overjoyed at the prospect. Boris and him could often be found managing the studio's finances together and Grant teaching Boris how to multiply and divide. 

Bendy had taken a liking to Shawn and would help the toymaker when he could. Sometimes the smiles on the plushies came out a little crooked, but Shawn said that Bendy would improve with time. In fact, the two of them were spending time with the two employees when something strange occurred in the studio or at least something that was stranger than normal. 

It had started out with an ink puddle that Wally forgot to clean up, but quickly escalated from there. Thomas Connor was the one who came across it, but he was certainly not expecting what he found.

“So how long has this been here?” Thomas wondered aloud.

He huffed to himself in annoyance before turning around to go find Wally. He was stopped however by a noise that sounded like something popping. Slowly, he twisted back around before his eyebrows shot up in surprise. 

A black figure, the only way he could describe it, had appeared in the ink puddle. He stared at the figure for moment before slowly backing away. He was getting away from here that was for sure. He stopped suddenly though in shock when he saw the black figure start to crawl out of the puddle towards him using its hands.

Not sure what to do, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a wrench. Thomas took a defensive stance and waited to see what would happen next. The creature continued to crawl towards him knowing where he was despite having a featureless face. When it stopped, it was about two feet away from him. He stared at it again.

“What the heck do you want?” Thomas asked. 

The figure simply stared back at him. He didn’t like that.

“Well? Are you going to say something or are you just going to stare at me?” he growled.

The figure still said nothing and just continued to look at him.

“Ok, I’ve had enough of this. I’m leaving.” 

He slipped the wrench back into his pocket after relaxing and began walking away again. He was almost at the end of the hallway when he chanced a look over his shoulder. It was still following him. He paused before deciding it just wasn’t worth it. He kept on walking with the creature right behind him. 

As the day wore on, people started asking questions about his new shadow, but all he did was shrug his shoulders at them and say he didn’t know. In fact, he forgot to tell Wally about the ink puddle. Must have slipped his mind in all the excitement. Things got even more interesting when Thomas went to pick up his paycheck from Grant on his way to fixing Jack’s toy machine or was its Shawn’s toy machine? Probably Shawn’s.

“Grant.” called out Thomas as he knocked on the door to Grant’s office.

“Coming.” said a voice that definitely wasn’t Grant’s.

 Unsurprisingly, Boris the Wolf opened the door.

“Hey Boris.” muttered Thomas as he slipped inside the office with his friend coming right in after him.

“Thanks Boris” said Grant as he looked up from his desk.

“Welcome.” replied Boris as he sat back down in the chair that was pulled up besides Grant’s. 

Grant did a double take as he noticed Thomas’s little follower.

“Thomas, what the heck is that?”

“Don’t know. Been following me all day.”

Grant raised an eyebrow before accepting the fact that explanations weren't happening. Boris stopped working on the forms he had to see what Grant was talking about. An exclamation mark appeared above his head as he saw the creature. Grant smiled at his reaction. Boris has really grown on him. Boris got up from the desk again and went over to the creature.

“Hi, I’m Boris!” he exclaimed excitedly.

The creature looked up at him before lifting a hand off of the floor to wave at him. He waved back. Boris looked at Thomas.

“Do they got a name?”

Thomas shrugged in response. Boris didn’t look impressed.

“Fine, I’ll name them. Hmm…”

The room quieted again as Boris started trying to think of a name. Grant had already starting writing Thomas a check a few minutes before as he knew why he was there which he quickly finished and held out to Thomas. He pocketed it without a word.

The creature meanwhile had started exploring around the office and was inspecting the contents of a trash can. Boris, having observed what the creature was doing had an idea which resulted in a light bulb appearing above his head.

“How about Searcher? Since you’re so curious!” declared Boris.

The newly named Searcher looked up from the trash can and nodded at the name. Thomas headed for the door while  Boris smiled as he watched his new friend leave. Grant just shook his head and went back to working on the studio’s finances as Boris joined him again. 

Thomas headed for Shawn’s work area with Searcher right behind him. When he walked in, Bendy was carrying a box of finished plushies to put on the shelves while Shawn was at his workbench.

“I heard you’re machine needed fixing.” Shawn looked over at Thomas.

“Yea, the darn contraption don’t be seemin’ to work anymore. It’s broke I tell you!”

“I’ll see what I can do.” Thomas headed over to the machine to take a look at it while Searcher headed over to the workbench to see what Shawn was up too. It took a moment for Shawn to notice the newcomer and his reaction was priceless.

“Ahhhhhhhhh! What is that?!” shouted Shawn as he saw Searcher. 

Bendy snickered at his actions while even Thomas found himself smirking. Searcher meanwhile was just staring at Shawn now.

“If not goin’ to hurt me right?”

Bendy covered his mouth to keep from laughing while Thomas's smirk widened.

“No, he won't hurt you. He’s just curious.” Thomas remarked as he went back to fixing the machine.

“Does he have a name?” inquired Bendy.

“Searcher,” provided Thomas without taking his eyes off his work.

Shawn had relaxed by this point and took one more look at Searcher before painting on a plushie’s smile again. Bendy however went to meet Thomas's new companion.

“Hi there! I'm Bendy!” Searcher looked at Bendy and waved at him. Bendy smiled in response.

“So how have things been going for you lately? Been around long?”

Searcher managed a thumbs up and a shake of his head. Their rather one sided conversation continued on like this for awhile with Shawn occasionally eyeing Searcher and Thomas working on the machine. Soon he finished though and it was time to leave.

“It was nice meeting ya Searcher! Don't be a stranger and come see me again sometime!” Bendy called out after Thomas and Searcher as they walked down the hall.

Shawn, on the other hand, was sitting at his workbench wondering what the world was coming to.

As the day wore on, Thomas was still curious about how exactly Searcher had come to be in that ink puddle he had found him in. To try and at least get some answers, he begrudgingly paid Joey Drew a visit in his office.

“You said you wanted to show me something?” questioned Joey.

“Yep, and here it is.”

Thomas moved out of the way to reveal Searcher who was behind him. Searcher looked startled for a moment before he started staring at Joey. Joey stared back. He then looked at Thomas.

“I want one.”

Thomas facepalmed at the remark.

“You supposed to help us figure out what is going on, not encourage more of it.” he muttered.

Searcher himself had already moved on and was checking Joey's desk though no one knew how he got over there without anyone noticing. Joey frowned at both of them.

“Come on Searcher, there's a leaky pipe in the animation department that's calling our names.”

Searcher stopped what he was doing and followed after Thomas as he headed out of the office. He looked back at Joey one time before leaving completely. The office was silent for a few minutes. Now that he was alone though, Joey started to voice his thoughts aloud.

“I wonder if it has to do with the ink…maybe it does work? No, but then it would have...hmmm…It is the ink isn't it, it’s what I've added to it.”

Joey stroked his chin.

“I was not expecting this. So I am guessing that a large amount of the ink was left undisturbed for a while and the result of that was Searcher. Fascinating.”

Joey began taking notes on what he had just observed and made a mental note to study the event more closely on a later date. If he was thinking correctly though, the ink might have had stronger effects on Henry than he had thought. A thought that he did not find pleasant in the least.

Nevertheless, time passed on and things went on a usual in the studio despite everything that had occurred. Animations were completed, music composed, and coffee was brewed much to the joy of a certain employee. There was one thing different though, Thomas had gained a new friend.

What really sealed the deal was the day when Searcher was found wearing one of Thomas's hats and carrying a wrench. Things were back to normal, well as normal as they could be at Joey Drew Studios. At least, until another Searcher appeared.


	11. Something Ends, Something Begins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this took forever to get out. I blame school. But anyways, here is the final chapter for part one of the prologue. Hopefully, I will be able to post part two of the prologue soon. Thanks for the continued support.

“I think I finally got it.”

“Really? Are you sure?”

“Yeppers.”

“Then let's try it!”

Trevor nodded and quickly finished putting the finishing touches on the drawing. He quickly took his pen and added four bold, black lines on different parts of the page. Henry saw that he was finished and started downing several inkwells. He waited for a moment and nothing happened.

“Trevor, you did it! You finally did it!”

Trevor beamed.

“Yep, we finally did.”

Henry felt elation fill his chest. They had done it! They had managed to stop the toonification process. It possibly wasn't a permanent fix, but they had to start somewhere. They had been trying to perfect it for months ever since they got the idea.

It had started off with some simple drawings but then branched off from there. They had first decided to start off by just drawing him as a human completely and manipulating that to see what would happen. 

They didn't discover much, but it was still a step in the right direction. They decided to try messing around with a drawing of his toon form next. That was where they made the most progress.

By erasing parts of his anatomy, they were able to temporarily turn it back human. They also began experimenting with ways to prevent the toonification from spreading.

The barriers on the page was their latest idea after a string of unsuccessful ones. They decided to try combining the two drawings, toon and human, so they drew the parts of him that were so human along with the parts of him that were now toon.

The main reason why they were researching how to stop the process in the first place was to hopefully wane the interest the Nazis had shown in Henry during the many months since his capture. 

Over time, things seemed just get worse for both of them. They could only stand so much, Henry with all the experiments and Trevor having to constantly fix his body. There was light in their present darkness, however. 

They had heard that the war was ending and that liberation was nigh. They dared to hope for it as it would bring them freedom and a way to escape this hell. Trevor and Henry were also working on how to explain Henry's condition to the Americans if they were rescued.

At the moment, they didn't really have any ideas and mostly they just hoped they could find someone they could trust. Both of them knew they would most likely be checked out by a medical professional due to the time spent in the camp before they could go home.

Henry though had been having a few misgivings. He wasn't completely sure if he would be able to trust anyone besides Trevor. Their plan relied on a gamble and a big one at that. 

A few days later, their shaky at best idea had to be implemented as it turned out that the rumors were true. The Americans were coming. They were going to be liberated, hopefully.

“Henry!”

“I know Trevor, I know.”

“Can ya believe it? We're goin’ ta be free!”

Trevor hugged Henry with gusto with his declaration. Henry chuckled at his antics and hugged Trevor back. He was happy that Trevor felt the way he did, but he was still nervous and a bit panicked at the thought of how the Americans would react to his situation. 

As the war had gone on, the conditions at the camp had worsened. The amount of food dwindled, overcrowding became a problem, and tempers had grown short. The guards were frustrated with the increase in prisoners and often took out their anger on them as a result. Nothing really bad, but there had been a few injuries.

Trevor was looking a little worse for the wear with his ribs being extremely prominent under his shirt that hung rather loosely on his frame. His limbs were like twigs and his cheekbones stuck out on his face.

Maybe it was because he was now part toon, maybe it was because of all the ink, but Henry looked much better than Trevor any day. The ink had completely overtaken his arms and legs.

Due to their efforts though, it hadn't spread any further. Henry did look slightly emaciated however himself. Shouting was heard in the hallway leading up to their room.

“Drop your weapons and put your hands where I can see them!” someone yelled.

A string of German words followed the announcement most likely a translation. Clatters echoed throughout along with what sounded like cursing. Trevor nodded at Henry who made sure the clothes he was wearing covered everything. 

He had found some gloves and large boots to cover his gloves and shoes while long pants can and a long-sleeved shirt did the rest. This was the moment they had both been waiting for, but Henry felt his mind begin to flood with all the horrible possibilities of what could go wrong flood his mind.

“Trevor, what if they…what they do what the Germans did to me?”

“Henry, I don't think they will. I mean, they probably wouldn't.”

Henry's face gained a look of horror.

“They wouldn't…would they?”

The doorknob turned and both men turned to face the entrance as the door slowly opened.

“Trevor, I don't know if I can…”

“Henry…I…I don't know…”

They both fell silent.

“Come out of there whoever you are and don't you dare try anything.” the voice from earlier called out.

Henry glanced be at Trevor be as they both cautiously moved towards the entrance and out into the hall. The voice belonged to an American sergeant.

He kept his gun pointed at them as they came out of the room before lowering it slightly when he got a better look at them. His face swept up and down their bodies before settling in their faces. He held out a hand behind him to tell his men to stop.

“Are you Americans or some stinking Germans playing dress up?”

“We're Americans sir.” Henry muttered.

The sergeant glanced at them again before gesturing for one of his men to take them outside. Henry and Trevor stayed tense the entire trip. Doubt was beginning to grow in both of their minds. 

Should they trust their own country or would they turn around and do what the Germans did to Henry once they found out what he was? Henry turned to Trevor as they finally made it out of the building and into the cool, outside air.

“Trevor, I can't…I can't deal with all of that again…”

“Shhhh, Henry, it's goin' ta be fine.”

“But what if it's not?”

“Then…then….”

Trevor stopped as he saw some soldiers headed their way.

“Are either of you Henry Stein?”

Henry's face went as white as his hands. He backed away for a moment before stopping.

“That's... that's me.” He managed to stutter out.

“Come with us.”

It wasn't a question, it was an order. Trevor laid a hand on Henry's shoulder and led him forward after the soldiers. They walked for a few minutes until they reached a very familiar building. At this point, Henry started shaking as they entered it. Trevor tried to keep him calm and murmured words of comfort, but even he was starting to get a little nervous.

“In here.” said one of the soldiers as they reached a room.

Both Trevor and Henry walked through the doorway high-strung and worried.

A medic was sitting in a chair in the room with two other chairs along with an examining table in the corner along with a wash station surrounded by a bevy of cabinets. As soon as Henry saw the examining table he tried to bolt, but Trevor held him in place despite his own misgivings. These were his fellow countrymen, they could be trusted. Right?

“Have a seat.” said the medic who seemed a bit confused with Henry's actions.

Trevor guided Henry to a chair and sat down on the one beside it.

“Now, you're not in any trouble, but I have been hearing some strange rumors about you around the camp. I am just trying to follow up on those rumors and make sure you are not seriously injured or anything like that. It's probably nothing, but I can't ignore something like this and do nothing about it. In order to do that though, I need you to undress down to your undergarments and let me look you over. That's all okay?”

There was an awkward silence before Trevor broke it.

“Sir, with all due respect, I don't know if that's a very good idea. If ya must though, I need ta tell ya somethin’ first then as a friend ta this man and his personal, unofficial medic.”

The medic blinked in surprise before raising an eyebrow. His eyes went to Henry's gloves and oversized shoes. He knew something was up. He seemed to weigh his next words carefully.

“Alright. I will you hear out.”

“Henry here is in a rather _unique_ situation. It's also a rather sensitive one at that. Anything that ya see here today needs ta remain a secret and unknown ta anyone outside this room. Can ya do that?”

The medic narrowed his eyes at his words and drummed his fingers on his leg. He reached a decision a moment later and sighed.

“Okay, as long as it's not life-threatening. If it is though, I will need to inform somebody and get him to a hospital as quickly as possible. You have my word.”

Trevor nodded and turned to Henry who still looked a little scared, but seemed to have calmed a bit.

“Henry, can ya do what he said?”

Henry nodded once before slowly rising from his chair. He took a deep breath before he started pulling off the gloves. Next came his shirt, then his shoes, and finally his pants. Left only in his boxers, he looked up at the medic to gauge his reaction.

Trevor, of course, didn't react at all as it was nothing new to him, not after everything they had gone through together. The medic’s eyes had widened as he saw what was beneath Henry's clothes and he looked stunned. 

He looked as if he was about to say something when he suddenly stood up and walked over to Henry. Sensing what he wanted, Henry held out one of his hands. Tentatively, he touched it. After a moment, he ran his fingers over it and squeezed a finger slightly. His face lit up on wonder and amazement.

“This is...this is amazing!”

Henry’s eyes widened in surprise.

“You're not…you’re not scared?”

“Scared? Nah. Slightly weirded out? A tiny bit.”

The tension slowly began to leave the room as Trevor laughed at the comment.

“When I first met him, I said he was squishy.” he added.

Henry started to relax and rolled his eyes at the comment.

The medic smirked at the comment and reached over towards Henry. Henry looked lost in thought at the moment so he didn't notice the movement until his hand was carefully grasped…and squished. Henry groaned. The sensation continued up his arm and he even experienced it on his legs and feet.

“Will you…will you please stop squishing me?”

Trevor tried and failed to hold his laughter in. The medic’s smirk widened.

“He’s not just squishy there. He’s squishy everywhere.”

Henry buried his face in his hands and moaned.

Trevor laughed so more before looking at the medic in a new light.

“Thank you. Thank you for that. We were both so worried and wondering…if…if,”

The medic raised a hand and smiled.

“It's fine. I don't know what the Germans did to you and him, but I do know it was a horrible experience. The last thing you need to deal with is another horrible experience.”

Henry looked ready to hug the man at the end of his speech.

“It's just that, we’ve already been through so much and I wasn't sure what would happen when someone else finally got a good look at me.” Henry said quietly.

The medic nodded in understanding.

“Like I said, I don't know what they did to you guys, but the last thing you need is something else to deal with. What I saw today stays between you guys and me.”

Now it was Trevor's turn to want to hug the medic.

“Well, we’ve haven't been properly introduced. I am Trevor Dechant and this is my friend, Henry Stein.”

Trevor held out a hand and the medic took it and shook firmly.

“Hmm, not squishy.”

Even Henry had the ghost of a smile on his face at the comment while Trevor was busy not trying to laugh again.

“My name is Edward Barton. I am a member of the Medical Corps.”

Trevor nodded before sitting back down after getting up at some point during the shenanigans. Edward motioned for Henry to go over to the examining table.

“Now, I do need to finish my examination. I can get it done relatively quickly since we've technically already started it. Now I just need you to lie down. Good.”

It was silent for a few minutes unless it was Edward talking to Henry.

“Hey Trevor, you're next by the way.” Edward called out suddenly.

Trevor squirmed in his seat and grumbled much to Henry's amusement. Trevor could feel Edward’s smirk from where he sat. He frowned and crossed his arms.

“Ya’re all a bunch of stinkin’ sapsuckers.”

Henry started giggling at the remark with Edward himself started chuckling. Trevor’s frown deepened amid the laughter in the room.

 

It had been many months since their liberation and they were finally coming home. The wait has been long and they had spent some time in the so-called “tent cities” before being shipped out back to the United States. 

He and Trevor had agreed to go there separate ways for the moment before meeting up again in a few weeks time to check in on each other. Trevor was excited to see his girlfriend again while Henry knew he couldn't wait to see Sara.

He had taken the train part of the way before using a bus and walking to make the rest of the journey. Though it took a while, soon he was home. It was just as he left it, sort of. The lawn looked like it hadn't been cut in ages and the windows looked dirty. Something was up. A feeling of unease filled Henry as he approached the front door.

He knocked, but no one answered. He tried again and then rang the doorbell. No one was coming to the door. He quickly walked over to the bush beside the house and dug into the ground near it. 

His fingers encountered a metal box which he grabbed and jerked out of the ground. Fumbling, he managed to open it and grabbed the key that tumbled out. He quickly jammed it into the keyhole and turned the knob before barging in.

“Sara!” he called out.

Silence reigned in the house with a layer of dust coating the contents of it.

“Sara?” he said more quietly.

No one came to greet him. No one said welcome home. No one answered. He stopped in the foyer while a sickening feeling began to overcome him. The lack of noise, the layer of dust, _the lack of a human presence._ They nauseated him.

“Sara! Sara! Sara!”

He ran around the house calling her name. No one responded. He eventually came to a stop in the kitchen. He happened to glance at the table where there were several pieces of paper. They were letters. 

Henry picked one of them up. It had his name on it in Sara’s handwriting. His stomach dropped and with shaking hands he picked it up. He ripped it open and took out the letter before beginning to read.

“Dearest Henry, I know you are away right now fighting a war that isn't yours and that you never asked for. Bless you, for that. You know I don't like beating around the bush so I will just tell this to you straight. I have cancer Henry and I am dying. In fact, if you are reading this…”

Henry read the last few words out loud.

“then I am…”

He refused to say it. He didn't want to say it. He put the letter down. He could read the rest of it and the other ones later. He needed a moment. A few tears slid down his cheeks. A sob rose in his throat as he buried his face in his hands. It was too much. He had been holding it together the entire war. The death, the torture, _the_ _pain_.

Oh, he had held it together, but this was the last straw. The dam broke and Henry began weeping heavily. His wife was, she was… He banged a fist on the table. After everything, after everything he had gone through, he had come home to _this_. It wasn't fair. He realized he didn't want to be alone right now. He couldn't be alone.

He blindly found his way over to the phone. Trevor had given him his phone number on a piece of paper which he fished out of his pocket. He quickly dialed the number and to his joy, none of the neighbors were on the line. 

Trevor actually lived relatively close by to him. He had an apartment in the city nearby while Henry lived in the country. Trevor's girlfriend had her own apartment near him though he had said they were possibly planning on moving in together. The phone on the other end was picked up and he felt a tiny fleeting feeling of relief.

“Hello, this Trevor Dechant speakin’. How may I help ya?”

“Trevor, it's…it’s Henry.’

“Henry? Oh, I wasn't expectin’ a call so soon. Are ya okay?”

“No…I’m…Sara’s…she’s…”

“She's what Henry?”

“She's dead!”

Henry sobbed into the receiver at his own words.

“Oh…”

The line was silent for a few minutes before Trevor reached a decision.

“I'm coming over there Henry. Ya don't need ta be alone right now. I will be there shortly. Don't do anything stupid.”

“I…I will try not to…what about your girlfriend though?”

“Angela? Yea, she...she apparently married another guy durin’ the war. Came home and found out that she's pregnant and livin’ with him now. So…that’s over and done I guess…I will see ya soon Henry.”

The line went dead and Henry put the receiver down. The words that Trevor had said to him rang in his mind.

“Don't do anything stupid huh?”

He thought about the bottle of acetone he kept at his desk. The pain would help keep his mind off his dead wife…he stopped. No, that wouldn't help anything just make things worse. Besides, it would probably just make Trevor mad at him. He’d have to fix him again. 

Memories threatened to overtake him before Henry decided to try and draw something to take his mind off of everything. He grabbed a pen and paper and began doodling. Soon Bendy, Boris, Alice, and other characters littered the page. A small smile appeared on his face. Drawing always helped him calm down.

A silly thought occurred to him. Here he was, a partial cartoon character drawing cartoon characters. The irony was not lost on him. A bitter smile graced his face.

Sara would have laughed at that. The tears began anew when he heard a knock on the door. He slowly got up and walked to the foyer. He slowly opened it. Not surprisingly, a tired, but concerned Trevor met his gaze.

“I got here as fast as I could.”

Henry shook his head at that.

“You probably broke the speed limit getting here didn't you.”

“Hey, I will have ya know I borrowed a car and drove it here in that time.”

“Get in here Trevor.”

Henry led the way to a dusty living room with Trevor right on his heels.

“Sorry about the…mess.”

“It's fine Henry.”

They sat on the cloth covered couch in silence.

“So we’re two young men that survived a war and got nothing to show for it.” Henry muttered.

“Ya could say that, but I think ya're missing something.”

“Like what?”

“Us. We got each other. We're in this together. Been that way since day one.”

Henry smiled.

“You're right. We got each other.”

It was quiet again for a few moments.

“Hey Trevor, since you are unexpectedly alone and so am I, do you…do you want to live here with me?”

Trevor blinked at the statement before smiling.

“I would love ta Henry.”

Henry smiled back. He embraced Trevor who hugged him back.

“It's good to be home, Trevor. It's good to be home.”


End file.
